Epic laser projector was two years in the making

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If Pink Floyd ever decides to stop the bickering and get back on the road, we have found the guy who they should hire to handle the laser portion of the light show during concerts. Pictured above is a laser projector that puts the light shows we saw with Dark Side of the Moon to shame. Created by a Polish student at the Gdansk University of Technology who goes by the handle C4r0, this laser projector is capable of some amazing imagery that is a result of a couple of years hard work.

The build of the device is nothing short of genius, making use of parts out of everyday devices as well as modified components to suit the need. Lasers from Blu-Ray and DVD players, as well as from HP printers were used along with dichroic filters (very accurate color filters) to control which beams are visible at specific times. To interface with the projector, C4ro used some widely available laser show software as well as writing his own code to fill the gaps for desired functionality.

The theory behind the projector is simple to state and complex to implement. Using a series of the aforementioned dichroic filters controlled by drivers that respond to commands from the software interface, the lasers are either reflected or allowed to pass through to create imagery. Of course this all happens at high speed, which allows a user to animate the objects created by the different colored lasers. To make this all happen, Cr40 handmade the drivers to fit his custom design, then tailored the software to interface with them.

Along with the visuals, the power this unit puts out is impressive. If all the lasers installed in the unit are left on, they will cut a hole through cardboard and are capable of giving a human a nice burn as well. Not a toy obviously, but still drool-worthy for any geek that sees it in action.

Cr40 has been kind of enough to talk about the build in depth via a forum post, laying out all the technical specs and intricacies that went into the project. Of course, there are a couple of videos of the laser projector in action for your viewing pleasure below.